


the first heartache

by sleeponrooftops



Series: raising webhead: a parenting guide, attempted by the science boyfriends [40]
Category: Iron Man - All Media Types, Marvel, Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Incredible Hulk - All Media Types
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-17
Updated: 2013-07-17
Packaged: 2017-12-20 10:58:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,343
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/886463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleeponrooftops/pseuds/sleeponrooftops
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bruce is worried about why Peter has locked himself in his room for the past four days, so he and Tony investigate.</p>
            </blockquote>





	the first heartache

_Two weeks later._

_July, 2023_

Bruce sighs, dropping onto the futon and looking over at Tony, who takes a few minutes before turning to him.  “What’s up?” he asks, lifting his goggles up.

 

“I think we should talk to Peter,” Bruce says, frowning.

 

“What about?”

 

“Tony, he’s been in his room for the past four days.  He refuses to take Johnny’s calls, and he hasn’t been eating well.  Something’s wrong.”

 

“Maybe his arm just hurts.  It’s only been, what, two weeks?”

 

“ _Tony_.  He’s _our_ son, you really think he wouldn’t be down here complaining as loudly as he could if it was just his arm?”

 

“Fair point,” Tony says, getting up and coming over to Bruce.  He sits down next to him, resting a hand on his thigh, thumb stroking back and forth, and they sit there in silence for a while until Tony says, “Do you think it’s about what happened?”

 

“I would imagine.  Will you come with me?”

 

“Of course.”

 

And so they make their way downstairs, pausing outside Peter’s door so Bruce can knock softly.  “Peter?” he calls through the door, “Is it okay if we come in?”

 

“No,” Peter’s muffled voice carries through the room, so Bruce opens his door and steps inside, looking around until he spots him in his hammock, his back to them.  “I said no,” he mumbles, and Bruce sighs, coming further in so Tony can follow and shut the door behind him.  They go over to his bed, and the three of them sit in silence for long minutes before Peter finally sighs, carefully turns over, and says, “I went to Xavier’s the other day.”

 

“How about you come down here and we can talk about it?” Bruce says hopefully.

 

Peter sighs and nods after a second, and Tony stands, helping him down from the hammock, mindful of his arm.  Bruce stretches out along the wall, Tony on the edge, and Peter lies in between them, reaching for Ollie where he sits on the small shelf above the head of his bed, which has been upgraded as he got older, so it’s not a cramped twin anymore.  He curls his arm around him, lying on his back, his right arm bent in against him, the sling absent.  “I just—I wanted Wade to tell me himself why he thought we couldn’t be friends anymore,” Peter says quietly, not looking at them, “I thought I deserved that, at least.”

 

“You do,” Bruce says, “But you shouldn’t have gone there.”

 

“I know that _now_ ,” Peter mutters, “But I just thought it wasn’t fair, that he thought he could just decide he was done being friends.  He wouldn’t—he wouldn’t come to the door.  Uncle Logan answered, and he tried to get me to leave, even told me that I wasn’t allowed to come by Xavier’s anymore, so I—I climbed the wall to Wade’s window.”

 

“Peter,” Tony says in disbelief, “Your arm is broken in _four_ separate places.  You’ve only been out of the hospital for two weeks.”

 

“I think I know that, _dad_.”

 

“Listen, don’t give me attitude.”

 

“Why do you have—”

 

“Stop it!” Bruce says, glaring at Tony, “Both of you.  This is _not_ what we came in here to do.  Go on, Peter.”

 

“I climbed the wall to his window, and then he wouldn’t even open it to let me in.  He’s got a bay window, so there’s really no ledge, so I—I may have told him I was just going to let myself free fall if he didn’t open the window.”

  
Tony snorts laughter, though he stifles it when Peter glares at him.  Bruce sighs, shaking his head.  “You really are our son,” Tony says, shrugging one shoulder, “Very overdramatic.”

 

“Yeah, whatever,” Peter says, though he’s fighting a small grin, “Anyway, he let me in after I said that, but he wouldn’t let me into the room, just onto the windowsill.  He told me that he never wanted to see me again and I couldn’t come around Xavier’s, couldn’t come looking for him, that we were done being friends.  I tried to talk back, but he just said that we should never have been friends in the first place, and that, if I didn’t leave, he was going to get Uncle Logan to _forcibly remove me_.”

 

“Oh, Peter,” Bruce sighs.

 

“It’s just—it’s not fair,” Peter says, his voice cracking, “He’s my best friend, he can’t just _do that_.  I don’t care what anyone says, if they think it’s weird that he’s older than me, I _want_ to hang out with him.  I don’t understand why he thinks we can’t.”

  
“He thinks he’s doing the right thing,” Bruce says, “And, in a way, he is.  Most seventeen-year-olds don’t find themselves in the company of a thirteen-year-old, and there are plenty of people out there that would say that age gap is dangerous.  Dad and I know better, but Wade also knows what most people think, and so he’s trying to distance himself from you.”

 

“He shouldn’t have to!” Peter says angrily, and a single tear escapes his eye.  He reaches up to wipe it away furiously, but that just opens the floodgates, and then he’s shaking, trying to contain it.

 

“Come here,” Bruce says, holding out his arm, and Peter scoots closer to him, letting Bruce wrap him away so he can cry, hidden from the world.  Tony moves over, and they lie like that, snuggled together, until Peter starts to calm down, sobs drifting to quiet sniffling until he’s yawning widely.  “Why don’t you take a nap?” Bruce whispers, pressing a kiss to his forehead.

 

“Will you stay in here?”

  
“Of course, baby,” Tony says, looking over at Bruce.

 

It’s not long after that before Peter’s out cold, his breathing evened out as he sleeps soundly, and it’s only then that Bruce whispers, “Are you thinking the same thing I am?”

 

“Maybe,” Tony says, frowning, “What is it?”

 

“This,” Bruce says, looking down at Peter and then back up at Tony, “This isn’t just losing a friend.”

 

“Yeah,” Tony sighs, “I was afraid of that.  Do you think he—he had _feelings_ for Wade?”

 

“I think it’s possible,” Bruce says, “Wade was such a huge part of his life for so long.  I mean, I know we put restrictions on when they could see each other, but I also know Peter told Wade everything.  He trusted him more than I’ve ever seen him trust Johnny or Flash.  And, I mean—you and I both know about him sneaking out those two times, even if he doesn’t know we know.”

 

“You think he went to Wade’s?” Tony asks, frowning.

  
“I’m certain of it.  Both times were after particularly rough days at school, and he was always better the next morning, albeit fighting exhaustion.”

 

“Damn it, Bruce,” Tony sighs, looking down at Peter, and it’s a moment before he continues, “He’s heartbroken, isn’t he?”

 

“I think so,” Bruce murmurs, “I always thought we’d have a few more years before we had to deal with this, and then I thought it was just going to be Gwen or another girl.  I never thought it would be Wade.”

 

“This raises an uncomfortable question.”

 

“Did Wade have feelings for Peter?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Tony—I’m pretty sure he did.”

 

“He’s _thirteen_ ,” Tony hisses, and he doesn’t know where this anger is coming from, but he feels like he’s been wronged in some way, that his _son_ has been wronged, and it makes his chest ache.

 

“I think Wade often wished Peter were much older, and I think he was attracted to his personality, not him as a young boy.  I think, as important as Wade was to Peter, so Peter was to Wade.”

 

“What do we do?”

  
“We just have to be here for him,” Bruce says, “We have to let him know that we love him, that he still has Johnny and Flash in his life, and that it’ll get better.”  Tony nods, and then they’re quiet, just lying there with Peter, mulling it all over.


End file.
